Reverse Mountain—the starting point of the Grand Line.
Passing through Reverse Mountain meant arriving at the first half of the Grand Line.
Some called it the Pirate's Graveyard, while other strong individuals called it... "Paradise."
Due to the unique magnetic field distribution in the Grand Line,
Seven magnetic paths extended from Reverse Mountain, connecting to the Sabaody Archipelago.
These were the seven fixed navigation routes of "Paradise," each lined with a certain number of islands and trials.
Normally, once a pirate crew chose a route, they couldn't change it, and the routes didn't intersect.
This was why Luffy didn't encounter other Supernovas before reaching the Sabaody Archipelago,
Because they all arrived there from different routes.
But the Black Whale was different...
With air superiority, coupled with the nautical chart marked with strong individuals provided by the Revolutionary Army, the Black Whale became the only pirate crew in Paradise that could cross the seven routes at will.
In other words...
Paradise... would thoroughly become the hunting ground of the Phantom Troupe, Chrollo's backyard!
Accumulating strength for their journey in the second half of the New World!
At this moment, the Black Whale hovered over an endless expanse of azure sea.
"Everyone come over here, I'm distributing Vivre Cards."
Chrollo handed out blank Vivre Cards to the members one by one, having them bind their life force to them.
Although Chrollo had the [Resonance Compass of Fate] to lock onto their locations, the members couldn't sense each other.
The Grand Line was incredibly dangerous, and getting separated was a terrible thing. Vivre Cards would allow them to sense each other's location and status, preventing them from being defeated one by one while separated.
After distribution, the members excitedly kept watch on the deck.
"Boss, I see a lookalike of the Black Whale!"
Uvogin looked at a similarly huge black whale in the sea below, which was repeatedly banging its head against the cliffs of the Red Line, and showed a shocked expression.
"As expected of a creature from the Dark Continent, it's truly massive. Just has some scars on its face.
Did that guy Beyond simulate the design of the Kakin Empire's Black Whale based on this thing!"
Uvogin had a look that said he was sure of it.
"....." Chrollo was speechless for a moment.
Ah-Jin, you really have an imagination!
That thing is just a whale, okay? It's just that the waters here are fertile, so it grew a bit bigger, but compared to the Black Whale ship, it's still nothing.
Besides, I already took care of Beyond.
The Black Whale continued forward.
"Chrollo, look! There's a huge, huge cactus over there!" Bonney pointed to a spot below and giggled foolishly, drool ungracefully flowing from the corner of her mouth.
"...."
"That's a mountain, okay! Look closely! Did hunger make you stupid?"
"Besides, you can't eat cactus..." Chrollo couldn't help but retort.
"Boss! Look! There are two things over there!" Uvogin looked in a certain direction, his face erupting with astonishing excitement.
"They... are so huge! Are they giant ancient statues from the Dark Continent?"
"No! They moved! The two of them are fighting!"
"They're giants!" Uvogin was so excited he couldn't help rolling up his sleeves.
"I really want to fight them—"
The other Troupe members got interested and rushed over with binoculars to watch.
"Wow, really. At least twenty meters tall~"
"Is this also a creature from the Dark Continent? Are they the legendary Giant Race?" Shalnark looked surprised.
"How many beatings does Uvogin have to take to become that huge?" Nobunaga stroked his chin and asked.
"At least fifty rotations of my Ripper Cyclotron!" Phinks grinned and answered tacitly.
Then the two of them looked at Uvogin with ill intentions.
"Come on then—who's afraid of who!"
Uvogin showed a warlike and excited expression.
"If you want to fight, go down there! If you break the ship, you're fixing it—" Nami and Machi roared in dissatisfaction together.
Nami, Machi, and Pakunoda looked at each other, all seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.
"These men with only muscles in their brains..."
Uvogin looked around, then pointed to an uninhabited snow-covered island below.
"How about going there? It looks like there's no one around, we can fight to our heart's content!"
Seeing that they were about to start fighting again, the peacemaker Franklin stepped forward.
"Boss, how about we choose an island to land on first? The food on the ship is running low—"
"I see traces of human activity on that snow-covered island. Should we go take a look?"
Uvogin and Bonney stopped what they were doing at the same time, their eyes lighting up as they raised their hands high.
"Seconded!"
Chrollo took out his binoculars and looked at the island, stroking his chin as he thought:
Huh, I seem to have some impression of this island. What was it called again?
Oh, right! I remember—
It seems to be called Drum Island, the place where Luffy recruited his emergency food supply, Chopper.
There is a kingdom on the island, and the king is a Munch-Munch Fruit user.
The ability allows him to eat anything and turn it into part of his body, or synthesize new things.
For example, synthesizing scrap metal into non-existent new alloys, and he can even eat his own body to change his shape.
And Chrollo vaguely remembered that it was mentioned in a movie that this fruit should be able to swallow other ability users to acquire their abilities.
"Good fruit~" Chrollo's eyes lit up.
Isn't this a weakened version of the Dark Fruit~
Adhering to the principle that a thief never leaves empty-handed, Chrollo planned to make a stop on the way!
Anyway, this king's combat power was extremely low, and his fruit development was one-sided. Hunting him would be a piece of cake~
"Let's go down~"
The Black Whale slowly descended. Chrollo put away the Black Whale, and everyone raised their wrists together, imprinting the [Resonance Compass of Fate].
Then he began to assign tasks:
"Same old, combat squad."
Uvogin, Nobunaga, Phinks, and Feitan stood up straight at the same time.
"You four are responsible for bringing the king of this country to me."
"If you want to fight, do it after that."
"Yes—"
"Intelligence squad."
Pakunoda, Shalnark, Franklin, and Bonolenov walked out slowly.
"You are responsible for collecting clues about Baroque Works in the city. We are not far from the Alabasta Kingdom here, so we might get intelligence about them."
The four nodded.
"Finally, the supply collection squad. Gather enough supplies, mainly collect more water. Alabasta is a desert terrain and extremely short of water."
Machi, Nami, Shizuku, and Kortopi nodded. Nami extended her hand.
"What?" Chrollo asked, confused.
"Money!" Nami said huffily.
Chrollo gave all the Heavenly Tribute to the Revolutionary Army; they didn't have much money left!
"Uh...." Chrollo scratched his head with an embarrassed look.
That is indeed a problem ==
Chrollo had a brainwave, turned around, and instructed Uvogin's group of four:
"While kidnapping the king, loot his treasury as well."
He remembered that the king here ruled with tyranny and wasn't a good person...
However... it would be best if there was a pirate crew or something for them to rob, that way they'd have money!
"Anyway, let's move~"
Chrollo looked at the icy town amidst the snow and ice ahead, where people were coming and going, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Strange, why do I remember that there weren't many residents on this island originally?"
I feel like... I've forgotten something about the intelligence on this island.
...